Wednesday

Sep 21, 2016 at 12:01 AMSep 21, 2016 at 5:14 AM

Florida’s weather was once again the envy of the nation Thursday as a second day of 80-degree temperatures spread across the peninsula along with clear skies, low humidity and balmy breezes. Officially, Fort Myers took the red ribbon with 84 degrees as the nation’s high.

It was 79 at Palm Beach International Airport and 78 in Palm Beach as southeast winds off the 75-degree water helped keep a lid on coastal temperatures. But to the west, it was 82 degrees in Royal Palm Beach and in the low- to mid-80s in inland Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Away from the Gulf Coast in Collier County the high was 88 in Immokalee.

The spring-like weather will be on its way out this weekend with a cold front due on Saturday night. Winds could gust up to 36 mph as the front blow through, forecasters said.

Palm Beach and other South Florida locations may get up to a quarter of an inch of needed rain, National Weather Service forecasters said, but the bulk of the precipitation is aiming for North Florida. The Weather Prediction Center is forecasting almost 3 inches of rain for Florida’s Big Bend area.

Saturday night/ Sunday morning forecast lows around the state: 52 in Palm Beach; 48 in Wellington; 49 in Belle Glade; 42 in Okeechobee; 39 in Yeehaw Junction; 45 in Tampa; 36 in Gainesville; 38 in Jacksonville and 35 in Tallahassee. Panhandle highs are expected to be only in the low-60s next week with lows consistently in the mid-30s.

South Florida lows next week should be in the low- to mid-50s and we may not see 70 degrees again until the end of the week, according to the National Weather Service.

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SUPER BOWL XLIX FORECAST: 73 and 56 in Phoenix under cloudy skies, according to AccuWeather; 74 amd 50 with partly cloudy skies, according to Weather.com.

The retractable roof at the University of Phoenix Stadium is expected to be open for the event.

(Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

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FIRST GROUNDHOG DAY FORECAST: Cloudy, cold and snowy in Punxsutawney, Penn., with a high of 23 and a low of 9, according to AccuWeather. And you know of course what that means — six more weeks of winter if Phil doesn’t see his shadow. The festivities at Gobbler’s Knob run from 3 a.m. to 8 a.m. highlighted by an appearance by Phil himself.